Members of the public had the chance to become a firefighter for a day during the Saipan Muster Challenge Exhibition hosted by Commonwealth Ports Authority Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting in partnership with the Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services at the CPA Airport Field last Saturday, despite the on and off rainy weekend showers.

Prior to the public’s try at the course, ARFF firefighters, which consisted of firefighter Frankie Muna who was the team captain, firefighter Oliver Igisaiar, firefighter Brandon Lieto, firefighter Hekido Helgen, and fire cadet Michael Mancao, demonstrated a trial run through the muddy and wet grounds of the airport field.

The ARFF team executed the full eight station course in four minutes, including putting on their full firefighting gear and the air pack. The public did not partake in this and started at station two. 

The eight stations were Station 1: donning of the full firefighter gear, including the air pack timed (civilians didn’t do this because they are not trained to; they just demonstrated it); Station 2 was pulling a 2.5-inch supply hose charged with water; Station 3 was the serpentine run with a hose bundle to test agility; Station 4 was step-ups with a hose bundle over their shoulder on a platform for 20 repetitions. This simulated a firefighter climbing sets of stairs with a hose; Station 5 was the hand-over-hand pulling of a rope tied to a one-and-a-half-inch attack line. This simulated firefighters having to transport equipment to a higher platform like a second to third floor by hoisting equipment up; Station 6 was advancing an attack line and shooting a target, which simulated fire suppression; Station 7 was forcible entry to a burning building by slamming the Kaiser equipment with a mallet; and Station 8 was the dummy carry/drag/pull. This final station simulated rescuing a victim. 

The weather did not stop civilians from forming their teams for a crack at the course, which included team Beast Mates, which finished the course with a time of 3:12, and consisted of Joshua Castro, Phil David, Shane Alvarez, Daniel Ogumoro, and Kelvin Fitial; team Youth Affairs Office finished with a time of 3:54 and consisted of Harry Moses, Jonas Okawa, Mark Nique, and Eloy Cruz; team Fagaga Fighters finished at 4:45, and consisted of Brad Ruszala, Simon Necesito, Jimmy Jecino, and Phil Gases; the all-women’s team, Women Power, finished at 9:30 and consisted of Kathy Ruszala, Evelyn Pangelinan, Leigh Gases, ARFF firefighter Tiffany Santos, and DFEMS firefighter Janika Taimaniao; and team Manhoben finished at 3:45 and consisted of Chris Sablan, Leon Laniyo, Sidney Camacho, Dave Mafnas, and Dwayne Blas.

There was also a solo relay, which gave individuals the chance to take on the course by themselves. Christy Aldan finished with a time of 6:06, Jimmy Jecino finished at 6:26, Luis Mario finished at 6:09, cadet Michael Mancao finished at 7:38, Javin Okawa finished at 5:24, firefighter Vince Torres finished at 4:05, Simon Necesito finished at 9:14, Kelvin Fitial finished at 4:51, and Joshua Castro finished at 7:00.

Brad Ruszala, a member of the public who participated in the exhibition, said after their team’s run: It “was awesome. It was great. It was great to be on a team because doing that solo, man, that’s why those guys get paid to do all that hard work. We had a great team and it was a lot of fun and that dummy was the heaviest thing; I thought it was going to be a lot lighter…”

Edward Dela Cruz Jr. thanked his boss and everyone who participated in a Facebook post, saying, “Thank you to my bosses for giving us the green light to pull this expo this year and believing in us and supporting our event. This was the only time in the year we allowed the public to come and use our equipment to get a feeling of what we do in the fire service. If you ever thought [about] how it felt like to be a firefighter for 8 minutes of your life, you missed out yesterday. This was not a competition between fire departments. We allowed the general public to wear the full gear, carry the air pack and execute our basic firefighting functions. Thank you to all participants that showed up yesterday and gave it their all. Thank you to CPA ARFF, DFEMS CPA seaport, CPA Admin, American Red Cross, Run Saipan, Saipan International School, Northern Marianas Athletics for supporting this event.”

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